Papal conclave, 1958
Encyclopedia
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| Dates | 25–28 October 1958 |
| Location | Sistine Chapel Sistine Chapel Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio... , Apostolic Palace Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican... , Vatican City |
| Dean | Eugène Tisserant Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant Eugène Tisserant was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia. He was also, for a time, Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre... |
| Vice Dean | Clemente Micara Clemente Micara Clemente Micara was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vicar General of Rome from 1951 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946.-Biography:... |
| Camerlengo | Benedetto Aloisi Masella Benedetto Aloisi Masella Benedetto Aloisi Masella was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1954 to 1968, and as Chamberlain of the Roman Church from 1958 until his death... |
| Protodeacon | Nicola Canali Nicola Canali Nicola Canali was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State from 1939 and as Major Penitentiary from 1941 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935... |
| Ballots | Pope elected after 11 ballots |
| Elected Pope | Angelo Roncalli Pope John XXIII -Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop... (took name John XXIII) |
The Papal conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
of 1958 occurred following the death of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
on 9 October 1958 in Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo
Castel Gandolfo is a small Italian town or comune in Lazio that occupies a height overlooking Lake Albano about 15 miles south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills. It is best known as the summer residence of the Pope. It is an Italian town with the population of 8834...
, after a 19-year pontificate. The conclave to elect his successor commenced on 25 October and ended three days later, on 28 October, after eleven ballots. The cardinal electors
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1958
The following were the cardinal electors in the 1958 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
chose Angelo Roncalli
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
, then Patriarch of Venice
Patriarch of Venice
The Patriarch of Venice is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few Patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church...
, as the new pope. He accepted the election and took the regnal name
Regnal name
A regnal name, or reign name, is a formal name used by some monarchs and popes during their reigns. Since medieval times, monarchs have frequently chosen to use a name different from their own personal name when they inherit a throne....
of John XXIII.
The conclave and its papabili
The conclave was held from 25 to 28 October, at the Sistine ChapelSistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. In the absence of the popular Giovanni Battista Montini
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
(who would become Pope Paul VI in 1963 but was not yet a cardinal at the time of this conclave), the papabili
Papabile
Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a cardinal of whom it is thought likely or possible that he will be elected pope. A literal English translation would be "popeable" or "one who might become pope".In...
included the conservative Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genoa
The Archdiocese of Genoa is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy.Erected in the third century, it was elevated to an archdiocese on 20 March 1133...
, and the liberal Giacomo Lercaro
Giacomo Lercaro
Giacomo Lercaro was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Ravenna from 1947 to 1952, and Archbishop of Bologna from 1952 to 1968. Lercaro was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.-Early life and ordination:Giacomo Lercaro was born in Quinto al...
, Archbishop of Bologna
Archdiocese of Bologna
The Archdiocese of Bologna is a Roman Catholic archbishopric in northern Italy, with the archiepiscopal seat in Bologna Cathedral. The current Archbishop is Cardinal Carlo Caffarra since 2003.The archdiocese has the following suffragans:*diocese of Imola...
.
Because Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
had held only two consistories
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
(in 1946 and 1953) during his tenure, the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
—whose maximum size, as set by Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
in the sixteenth century, was then seventy—was noticeably short of members. There were fifty-three cardinal electors, of whom twelve had been elevated by Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
, but due to travel restrictions imposed by their Communist governments, József Mindszenty and Aloysius Stepinac
Aloysius Stepinac
Aloysius Viktor Stepinac , also known as Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, was a Croatian Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 to 1960. In 1998 he was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope John Paul II....
were not able to travel to Rome. Hence, there were fifty-one electors
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1958
The following were the cardinal electors in the 1958 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
who participated in the conclave, and thus a potential Pope needed only thirty-five votes.
Electing Roncalli
Pope Pius had to that point been the longest reigning pope in the twentieth century; Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
, though he died in the beginning of the century, had begun his reign and spent most of it in the nineteenth century. With the election of a 77-year-old cardinal, many churchmen interpreted the choice of Roncalli as picking a "pope of transition". John XXIII himself said, when he took possession of the Lateran Basilica on 23 November 1958: "We do not have the right to see a long way ahead of us."
Unlike 1939, when Eugenio Pacelli was the overwhelming favourite, or 1963, when Giovanni Battista Montini was favored, the 1958 conclave had several papabili but no favourite candidate. That may explain the unusual length of the conclave. Roncalli was among the persons mentioned by the media at the time. The mild-mannered former diplomat, of rural origins, took the name Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
. He was like Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
before him: the second Patriarch of Venice
Patriarch of Venice
The Patriarch of Venice is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few Patriarchs in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church...
to be elected Pontiff in the 20th century. (The third was Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I
John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
in 1978.) Roncalli had been for many years Nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Turkey and France. Other candidates had been Valerio Valeri
Valerio Valeri
Valerio Valeri was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious in the Roman Curia from 1953 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.President Charles de Gaulle insisted that Valeri be removed...
, Alfredo Ottaviani, Ernesto Ruffini
Ernesto Ruffini
Ernesto Ruffini was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Palermo from 1945 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII.-Biography:...
, and the Armenian
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
Patriarch of Cilicia, Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian. However, Agagianian's non-Italian heritage and young age (63) greatly hindered his chances for election. Also relatively young were 52-year-old Giuseppe Siri and the Archbishop of Milan Giovanni Battista Montini, with the latter, although mentioned, not being a cardinal.
It is believed by some, mostly in traditionalist Catholic circles, that Cardinal Siri, the long-serving and conservative Archbishop of Genoa, was actually elected Pope in the 1958 papal conclave, on Sunday 26 October, even taking the name of Gregory XVII, but that his election was then suppressed, duress having been applied to him, especially by the French Cardinals led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Eugène Tisserant, who would have brought up the threat of anti-Catholic turmoils in USSR dominated Eastern Europe, if Cardinal Siri, considered a rabid anti-Communist, became the new Pope. This belief is known as the Siri Thesis Greater weight is given to it because two cardinals who arrived for the conclave, Cardinals Costantini and Mooney, died on 17 and 25 October, respectively, shortly before the conclave began. Mooney allegedly died of a heart attack mere hours before the conclave began. The chances that two cardinals out of 53 electors would die of "natural causes" just prior to the conclave were minute indeed.
Roncalli's selection was a surprise to all, most particularly to Roncalli, who arrived in Rome with a return train ticket to Venice and who hoped for a short conclave so that he could return home.
Allegedly, French cardinals came to Rome determined to elect a man some had dismissed as over-the-hill. The Frenchmen held their votes together even when Roncalli’s candidacy seemed to slip, gathered allies, and eventually got their candidate elected. It is reported, perhaps apocryphally, that one elderly and confused cardinal kept voting for Achille Ratti
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
(the then already long-deceased Pope Pius XI) throughout the balloting.
Roncalli accepted the election and when asked what his regnal name would be, he responded, "We choose John...a name sweet to Us because it is the name of Our father, dear to Us because it is the name of the humble parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
where We were baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, the solemn name of numberless cathedrals scattered throughout the world, including Our own basilica
Basilica of St. John Lateran
The Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran , commonly known as St. John Lateran's Archbasilica and St. John Lateran's Basilica, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope...
...We love the name of John because it reminds Us of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, precursor of our Lord
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
...and the other John
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
, the disciple and evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
...Perhaps We can, taking the name of this first series of holy Popes, have something of his sanctity and strength of spirit, even—if God
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
wills it—to the spilling of blood
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
". However, confusion was aroused as to what number pope Roncalli was to choose this name, but he impatiently insisted that he was to be known as John XXIII.
He became the first pope since Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
to bestow his scarlet zucchetto
Zucchetto
The zucchetto , a/k/a pileolus in Latin and calotte/calotta in France, Italy and Hispanic nations, is a small skullcap worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in Anglicanism....
on the Secretary of the conclave—in this instance, Alberto di Jorio
Alberto di Jorio
Alberto di Jorio , was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and for many years along with the layman Bernadino Nogara the powerhouse behind the growing wealth of the Vatican and the Istituto per le Opere di Religione .-Early life:From his earliest years di Jorio was destined for a career in the...
—immediately after his election and thus make him a cardinal.
The newly-elected Pope John, with his brand new white cassock
Cassock
The cassock, an item of clerical clothing, is an ankle-length robe worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church and some ministers and ordained officers of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Ankle-length garment is the meaning of the...
too tight on his portly figure, appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
after Nicola Canali
Nicola Canali
Nicola Canali was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State from 1939 and as Major Penitentiary from 1941 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935...
had announced
Habemus Papam
Habemus Papam! is the announcement given in Latin by the senior Cardinal Deacon upon the election of a new pope.The announcement is given from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican...
his election. It is said that Pope John had actually been given the medium-sized cassock by mistake (there are 3 sizes of robes, small, medium and large, available because the tailor does not know who the new pope will be); his measurements had been used for the large-size robes.
Alleged results
In His book The Making of the Popes: 1978, Andrew Greeley states in the endnotes that a cardinal left the conclave with the vote totals written in pencil on his sleeve.Grégoire-Pierre Cardinal Agagianian
Krikor Bedros XV Aghajanian was a Cardinal and leader of the Armenian Catholic Church. He served as Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia from 1937 to 1962, and Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in the Roman Curia from 1958 to 1970...
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
Benedetto Aloisi Masella
Benedetto Aloisi Masella was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1954 to 1968, and as Chamberlain of the Roman Church from 1958 until his death...
Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani
Alfredo Ottaviani was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953...
The case of Giovanni Battista Montini
Giovanni Battista Montini had been one of the stars of the Roman CuriaRoman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
in the 1930s and 1940s. A skilled diplomat and the Substitute (or deputy) Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
, many presumed that he would surely be raised to the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
in one of Pope Pius's consistories
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
. For most of his reign, with the exception of the five years Luigi Maglione was Secretary of State, Pius himself acted as his own Secretary of State, a position that he had held under the previous pope, Pius XI. Unexpectedly, Pius removed Montini from the Curia in 1955 and appointed him as the Archbishop of Milan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan
The Archdiocese of Milan is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy. It has long maintained its own rite: the Ambrosian rite. It is led by the Archbishop of Milan who serves as metropolitan to the dioceses of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Crema, Cremona, Lodi, Mantova, Pavia, and Vigevano.The...
, one of the most senior dioceses in Italy, and one which had produced many popes. Milanese archbishops are invariably made cardinals at the next consistory, which in this case took place in 1958 after the death of Pius XII. Pius XII had only two consistories during his pontificate, in 1946 and 1953. At the Secret Consistory in 1952, Pope Pius revealed to the assembled cardinals that two (Tardini and Montini) were at the very top of his list but turned it down. Tardini and Montini did not get the red hat during the pontificate of Pius XII, who did not have a third consistory before his death in 1958. This meant that some archbishops who could expect the honor because of tradition and importance of their city did not get the red hat then: Montini (Milan), O’Hara (Philadelphia), Cushing (Boston), König (Vienna), Godfrey (Westminster), Barbieri (Montevideo), Castaldo (Naples), Richaud (Bordeaux), and others.
Possibly Montini declined the red hat
Galero
A galero in the Catholic Church is a large, broad-brimmed tasseled hat worn by clergy. Over the centuries the galero was eventually limited in use to individual cardinals as a crown symbolizing the title of Prince of the Church...
because his counterpart as the Substitute Secretary of State, Msgr. Domenico Tardini, had already declined elevation to the cardinalate. As Montini felt that he could not accept it as long as Tardini had not, he declined the promotion. Whatever the reason he was not promoted, the situation persisted as a stalemate between the two men's promotion until Montini was promoted to be the new Archbishop of Milan in 1955. Both Montini and Tardini received the regalia of bishops, without being ordained at the time. Tardini remained in Rome as Pro-Secretary of State. Montini was ordained in St. Peter by Cardinal Tisserant, while Pope Pius XII delivered a eulogy from his sick bed over the radio. It was only after Pius XII's death in 1958 that Tardini himself, already of poor health and very much against his own will, was promoted to Secretary of State in his own right, and was created cardinal as well. He died within three years.
For whatever reason, Montini, who was widely tipped as the likely next pope, had he had been a member of the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
, was excluded, though even as Archbishop of Milan he still managed to pick up some votes, given that the cardinals are not restricted to choosing a pope from among their ranks. Montini was made a cardinal by the new Pope John XXIII and succeeded him as Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
. As a sign of his admiration—and some say also his sympathy for his friend's exile to Milan—Pope John XXIII listed Montini at the top of his list of his first consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of cardinals. This gave Montini the privilege of being the individual who would celebrate the yearly mass, at the pope's own pleasure, which would commemorate the pope's election as Supreme Pontiff. John XXIII would also go on to consult closely with Cardinal Montini about all his plans concerning the planning and execution of the upcoming Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
, whose first session began in 1962.
| Duration | 4 days |
|---|---|
| Number of ballots | 11 |
| Electors | 53 |
| Present | 49 |
| Absent | 2 |
| Africa | 1 |
| Latin America | 9 |
| North America | 3 |
| Asia | 3 |
| Europe | 32 |
| Oceania | 1 |
| Italians | 16 |
| DECEASED POPE | PIUS XII (1939–1958) |
| NEW POPE | JOHN XXIII (1958–1963) |